


Sunday Dinners

by thesalukihusker



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Family Bonding, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 00:49:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20844818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesalukihusker/pseuds/thesalukihusker
Summary: Karen and Jonathan bond over Sunday dinners.





	Sunday Dinners

**Author's Note:**

> Jonathan likes to cook. Karen Wheeler likes to cook. They both love Nancy. It's a match made in heaven. Family bonding and lots of fluff. Thanks to @iamthethumperanon on Tumblr for an adorable idea for this fic. I don't own Jancy, I just ship them.

"... I'll cut up the potatoes if you'll take the carrots."

Sunday dinner is a major doing in the Wheeler house. Karen spends a good part of the afternoon on it, getting everything perfect. It's a lot of work, but she's not about to let Nancy help her with it. For all the wonderful things her daughter is, the one thing Nancy definitely is  _ not  _ is a good cook. 

Karen was surprised a few weeks ago to learn that Jonathan not only could cook, but that he's good at it. Jonathan is been welcome for dinner at the Wheeler house anytime, but he's made a point to join them on Sundays since he and Nancy started dating. 

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Jonathan asked Karen if she needed any help with dinner. "Oh no, I've got it all under control," she told him. 

But Karen thought it might be a good idea to have an extra set of hands to help with dinner. And now, five weeks later, they're wearing matching aprons and preparing vegetables for a pot roast. 

Nancy loves watching Jonathan move around the kitchen, chatting with her mother while they cook together. 

###

On that particular Sunday, Karen needed an extra person to get the mashed potatoes ready.

Jonathan is about to go back upstairs when Karen stops him. "Actually, I could use some help getting these potatoes ready." He rolls up his sleeves and washes his hands, happy to have something to help with. Nancy is busy upstairs with Holly, and he's not sure what to do with himself.

Karen has always liked Jonathan, and she knows that he's had a lot of responsibilities. But this? This is something Karen didn't know.  _ Joyce has raised him well,  _ she thinks.

She's about to hand a colander to Jonathan - but he's a step ahead of her, draining the water from the potatoes. He sets the pan back on the stove, and Karen hands him a bowl. "Jonathan, when did you learn how to cook?"

Jonathan smiles at her, and shrugs his shoulders. "It's just something I've done for a while. I make breakfast and dinner when it's just Will and me. Mom taught me a lot of it, but some things I taught myself." 

“Well, I’m impressed. And thank you, for helping me get dinner ready.” Karen hands him the milk and butter for the potatoes, and takes the roast chicken out of the oven. 

Nancy is coming downstairs, but stops abruptly when she hears Jonathan chatting with her mom in the kitchen. "Last weekend I made dinner for Nancy," Jonathan tells Karen, as he cuts up tomatoes for a salad. "Breakfast for dinner. I was surprised when she told me she wanted French Toast, of all things." Jonathan's blushing, a small smile on his face. "But it was great. It was just right." Karen's stopped what she's doing, and is leaning against the counter listening to Jonathan's story. "I love cooking for her."

Nancy feels like her heart might melt. 

###

One month later, they've gathered in the Wheelers' living room to open Christmas presents. Nancy grabs two identical-size presents from under the tree, handing one to her mom and the other to Jonathan. "Okay, you have to open them at the same time." Karen and Jonathan give Nancy the same confused look. "One, two, three, go," Nancy tells them. 

Karen and Jonathan open the boxes, and realize Nancy's gifted them the same thing: matching light blue aprons. "You'll match when you cook together!" She knows about the times Jonathan has escaped to the kitchen to help with dinner, and how Karen has fawned over him afterwards. "This is great, Nance, thank you," Jonathan says.

Later, Nancy finds them both in the kitchen again, thumbing through a new cookbook. It was Jonathan's present to Karen. Karen gave Jonathan a book, too, with recipes for Nancy's favorites written inside. There's also a recipe for brownies in it that Nancy's sure her mother has only shared with one or two other people in the family. He's part of the family now, too.

###

It's just after New Year's, and Nancy wakes up to the sound of Jonathan making breakfast, and the smell of... chocolate? 

When she goes to the kitchen, Jonathan has a spatula in one hand, and a mixing spoon in the other. The chocolate she could smell from the other room is melting in a pot on the stove. The oven beeps. He grabs the potholders, sets a pan on the counter. Jonathan smiles at her, the adorable smile that Nancy's seen a lot lately. 

"Breakfast is ready, and  _ these _ ...are for later." They're the brownies Nancy likes so much, the ones from the book her mom gave to Jonathan. Nancy giggles, putting her arms around him, as he pours the chocolate on the brownies. 

"I've seen you and my mom in the kitchen, working on dinner together. I think you might be her new favorite."

Jonathan laughs, double-checks the brownie recipe and glances at Nancy. "Well,  _ I _ just hope these turned out okay. And I'm glad to know now what your favorites are."

That evening, Jonathan picks a recipe out of the book, and makes dinner for their date night. The brownies are dessert. Nancy's not at all surprised that they turned out perfect.

_ You're a keeper, Jonathan, _ Nancy thinks.


End file.
